Embodiments of the present invention provide for a system and a method for flow analysis, flow assurance and/or pipe condition monitoring in a pipeline for flowing hydrocarbons using at least one thermal sensor probe, which at least one thermal sensor probe may be used in conjunction with one or more other sensors to manage the sensing process and/or for data fusion to accurately determine flow properties in the pipeline and/or pipeline condition. By way of example, but not by way of limitation, in an embodiment of the present invention, a network of noninvasive sensors including at least one of the thermal sensor probes may provide output data that may be data-fused with outputs from other types of sensors to determine properties of the pipeline and/or flow through the pipeline.
Pipe condition monitoring, flow condition monitoring and flow assurance are important in oilfield production systems—particularly sub-sea systems with long tiebacks—hydrocarbon transportation pipelines and/or the like. In such production systems and pipelines, various scale depositions may occur in part or all of the pipeline, production conduits and/or the like during the life of a production well or a transportation pipeline. These scale deposits may be a principle cause of flow assurance problems.
The term scale may be used to describe various organic and mineral deposits on the pipe wall, such as asphaltenes, waxes, hydrates or the like. Wax and asphaltene depositions, due to the cooling effect of seawater, may be a main concern for sub-sea tieback systems. Mineral scales may be associated with production pipelines and the like being caused by water breakthrough during production. Currently scale inhibition and/or remediation strategies may be based on laboratory analysis of fluids retrieved from the productions systems and transportation pipelines. The information from such analysis may be of limited value because the laboratory-type analysis is not conducive to real-time understanding and/or management. Furthermore, in the case of remediation management, static flow and pipeline analysis systems, unlike real-time analysis, provide no feedback information on the effect of the remediation treatment. This may lead to productivity decrease due to under-treatment or undue treatment costs due to over treatment.
Pipeline corrosion is an important issue for production and transportation systems. For example, if sand erosion or the like occurs during oil production, there is a significant possibility of sand damage to any anti-corrosion coatings that may have been applied inside the pipes, conduits and/or the like of the oil production or oil transportation systems. As such, this sand damage to the oil production or oil transportation systems may lead to corrosion of the pipes and/or conduits of the oil production or oil transportation systems. Moreover, serious corrosion of pipelines needs to be and should be detected and repaired in time to prevent accidental occurrences and resulting environmental damage, from such occurrences as hydrocarbon spills or the like, which spills may be extremely significant in sub-sea or remote locations. Other applications of flow analysis, flow assurance and pipeline monitoring include the detection of abnormal conditions in the production or transportation of hydrocarbons. For example, in a subsea gas production system, liquids may accumulate and produce slug flow conditions that may overload a surface handling system or the like. An early warning system that may provide an alarm or the like regarding the arrival time of such slugs may allow timely control measures to be taken to prevent such system overloading. A real time monitoring system on the seabed pipeline may also detect events, such as water breakthrough, long before the effect of the event reaches the surface facility.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,100 (“the '100 patent”) describes a clamp-on ultrasonic multiphase flow meter based on range-gated (pulsed) Doppler measurements. In the '100 patent, Doppler data is used to derive flow velocities and phase fractions. The entire disclosure of the '100 patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,043 (“the '043 patent”) describes a non-invasive clamp-on multi-phase flow meter based on an acoustic impedance measurement principle. Identification of liquid and gas phases inside the pipe in the '043 patent is achieved by measuring the acoustic impedance of the material in contact with the pipe wall, and a velocity measurement is performed by cross-correlating impedance signals from two measurements separated by a known distance along the axial direction of the pipe. The entire disclosure of the '043 patent is hereby incorporated by reference.